January 26th was my first time meeting with the BWC. I was pleasantly surprised at how excited they were to gather around for the VTS section. Listening to their thoughts and descriptions of Duc de Berry's Tres Riches Heures was entertaining. I thought that Dustin did a great job facilitating the VTS discussion, and how he had the boys describe certain words they used for the rest of the group. I think that is it a great way to let students educate others with what they know. For example, one student described the scene as a feast. Dustin asked him to explain what a feast was for others who didn't know. Excellent way to encourage students!
This was also the first day for them to work on their medieval game boards. They were very enthusiastic to work on this exercise. Many of them wrote in each or in most of the squares, and they added drawings to illustrate what was happening in their game. Their was a lot of laughter and sharing of ideas, so much creativity! It was a lot of fun to help out, and let them have a chance to explain what they created.
February 2nd
Another great VTS discussion lead by Dustin. This painting was of a woman knighting a man. I was just as entertained this week as I was the week before. Many of the boys thought the woman was going to cut off the man's head. Other's believed that it was a knighting ceremony. As Dustin put it, the boys disagreed with each other in a respectful manor. It is was important to highlight that compliment because it is important for them to know that not everyone if going to agree on everything, but that it is ok to disagree and still be respectful of others thoughts and ideas.
The boys were finishing up their game boards, and were still excited to work on them. I think many of them took this day to put on the finishing touches. I noticed that only a handful of them used color on their boards. Many wanted to keep them black and white. But all of them had pictures and wonderful descriptions.
I'm excited to see how they do with playing their games this week!
You have gotten to see two very successful BWC sessions. It continues to amaze me that even though the boys seem squirmy during the discussions, they are still attentively looking, thinking, listening and participating. It proves that students "listen" in different ways...some more "actively" than others!
ReplyDeleteI, too, thought it was fascinating that one group of these students dismissed the opportunity to add color and opted, instead, to write more. Who knew? I want to ask them about that. I need to ask Mr. Tilley about interviewing the kids now that we are at about the one year mark. Lots of themes are showing up that require student explanations. Hmmm.
Great to have you as part of our team! You will get to "VTS," too, before long. And you're getting to observe one of our BWC masters. Dustin and Derrick both are VTS rockstars!